NELLORE: First-time contestants of several key constituencies in Nellore district are eagerly waiting for the counting day to know their electoral fortunes.
The Nellore Lok Sabha constituency witnessed a fierce fight between political heavyweights Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy of TDP and YSRC’ V Vijayasai Reddy, both of them made their debut in the direct election. Vemireddy is a former Rajya Sasbha member, while Vijayasai is a serving Rajya Sabha MP. As the counting day approaches, all eyes are on Nellore to see how these two seasoned politicians fare in their first direct election.
Historically, the TDP won Nellore LS seat twice with P Penchalaiah getting elected in 1984 and V Rajeswaramma in 1999. However, the yellow party faced defeat six times, notably in 2009 when TDP nominee Vanteru Venugopal Reddy lost to Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy of Congress by a big margin.
In subsequent polls, the TDP faced defeat in 2012, 2014 and 2019. However, the TDP believes that the political dynamics have changed now with the growing dissatisfaction among the people against the YSRC government.
It has fielded first-time contenders from Kovur, Kavali, Udayagiri and Sullurpeta Assembly constituencies, where the party keeps high hopes on victory.
Vemireddy Prashanthi Reddy (Kovur), Kakarla Suresh (Udayagiri), Kavya Krishna Reddy (Kavali), and Nelavala Vijayasree (Sullurpeta) of TDP are testing their luck for the first time in this election. On the other hand, Meriga Murali (Gudur) and Md Khaleel Ahmed (Nellore City) of YSRC have also contested for the first time in the general elections.
“The YSRC, which made a clean sweep in the last elections, is going to face a bitter experience in the district this time and it may lose a few seats. Though the YSRC has banked on its welfare programmes, the situation on the ground is different as voters seem to have opted for a change,” said a political analyst.